BOOK OF NATURE RECYCLERS…….. THE REMARKABLE DUNG BEETLE!!!

‘Large Copper Dung Beetle’ by Berniedup is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

So you’re not particularly fond of poop?  WELL,

If it wasn’t for the Dung Beetle, the earth would be covered with it!!!  
They love it thank God!  

They use it for food, food storage and as a ‘brood ball’.

ONE piece of elephant dung can attract as many as 4000 dung beetles in 15 minutes! 

The photo above is a ‘roller’, one of three types of dung beetles.  This little critter ‘rolls its own’ ball from yummy, fresh dung.  It can roll a ball of dung 50 times its own weight, pushing it with its back legs!  AND, as if that wasn’t amazing enough, they always roll this ball away from the dung IN A STRAIGHT LINE.  How do they do this?  Scientists say they navigate by detecting a symmetrical pattern of polarized light around the sun, invisible to us humans!  They also believe that they use the stars to navigate at night!  

It is estimated that these mini ecological giants save farmers in the U.S. $380 million dollars a year by burying the dung of cows and sheep which fertilizes the soil.  As National Geographic for Kids said, ‘These beetles are good planetary citizens and clean up what animals leave behind.’  

It is recorded in the book of Genesis that ‘God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them’.  Genesis 1:27.
And ‘The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it’.  Genesis 2:15.

‘AND TAKE CARE OF IT’.  From the very beginning, man was created to take care of the environment he was put in.

What does it mean to take care of it?  According to the American Oxford Dictionary, it means to ‘feel concern for or care very deeply for something, to look after something.’

Surely we can ‘one up’ those dung beetles as ‘good planetary citizens’ by ‘caring very deeply’ and ‘looking after’ the beautiful planet God created for us to live on.

We can recycle!  Plastics, glass, cardboard, paper, metal, batteries, and oil etc., are all recyclable!  Think about what the Dung Beetle goes through to recycle dung!  Can’t we all take a trip to the local recycle station?

And we don’t even have to move in a straight line or use our back legs!  

THINK ABOUT THIS!
As of 2021, there are at least 363,762,732,605 pounds of plastic pollution in the world’s oceans.

There are five massive patches of plastic in the oceans around the world.  These huge concentrations of plastic debris cover large swaths of ocean.  One patch in particular, known as the ‘Great Pacific Garbage Patch’ covers almost 8 million square miles of water. Earthday.org.

Some good news, Starbucks announced that it has fully phased out straws and flat lids, making straw less lids the standard for cold drinks at all of its stores across the U.S. and Canada.  This was in response to the ‘skip the straw, save a turtle’ campaign began by a student who found and removed a straw from a turtle’s nostril!

Speaking of Starbucks, you can bring your own reusable cup!  My wife and I are purchasing outdoor portable camping cutlery (available on Amazon or even Walmart) so we don’t have to use theirs or anyone else’s plastic, throwaway knife, fork or spoon!

Can you afford an electric car yet?  How about installing solar panels.  Plenty of incentives out there.  How about composting all those veggie scraps!

Here are 8 ‘Blue Habits’ to help fight plastics!  Bluehabits.org.

1. Refuse any single-use plastics that you do not need (e.g. straws, plastic bags, takeout utensils, takeout containers).
2. Buy and carry with you reusable grocery bags, produce bags, bottles, utensils, coffee cups, and dry-cleaning garment bags.
3. Pack lunches and snacks in reusable containers or wraps.
4. Bring your own reusable containers to restaurants.  Most will let you use your own container for takeout or to pack leftovers.
5. Vote for legislation that bans single-use plastic use.
6. Use a laundry bag, ball or filter to capture and reduce microfibers that make their way to wastewater and into rivers and the ocean.
7. Participate in (or organize) a clean-up of your local beach or waterway.
8. Support organizations addressing plastic pollution including the Oceanic Society, Plastic Pollution Coalition, 5 Gyres, Algalita, Plastic Soup Foundation, and others.

We’re all in this together! And you can make a difference every day. Live your values. Adopt practices that lower your climate impact, protect, respect and restore nature, and support safer, healthier communities. Start where you are and choose your path.
Pledge to go to zero waste!  See the David Suzuki Foundation. CARE!!!!!! 

Do yourself a favor and click on the link below to watch your recycling competitor:
Dung Beetle Rolls Enormous Dung Ball with Difficulty:

https://youtu.be/xNjymt6oCcQ